Automotive grade sensor saves space, adds design flexibility

11th December 2018

Vishay

Mick Elliott

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Datasheet

The Optoelectronics group of Vishay Intertechnology has introduced a fully integrated Automotive Grade proximity and ambient light sensor with four different slave address options. Featuring Filtron technology, the Vishay Semiconductors VCNL4030X01 combines photo detectors for proximity and ambient light, a signal conditioning IC, a 16-bit ADC, and a high power IRED in one compact 4 mm by 2.36 mm by 0.75 mm surface-mount package.

The AEC-Q101 qualified sensor features an interrupt function and supports I²C bus communication interface for mobile devices and smart home, industrial, and automotive applications.

The device can be implemented to provide proximity sensing for touch-screen locking in smartphones and tablets to save power; presence detection for display activation in notebooks, automobiles, and consumer and industrial devices; ambient light sensing for dimming control in displays, keypads, and rearview mirrors; and collision avoidance in toys and robots.

All the circuitry needed for these applications is included in one compact package to save PCB space, while its four slave address options provide greater design flexibility in applications requiring more than one sensor.

The device includes a programmable interrupt function, which allows both high and low thresholds to be set to reduce the overall power consumption within an application. The function can be programmed to trigger both the ambient light and proximity sensor.

The sensor's Filtron technology enables ambient light spectral sensitivity close to that of the human eye while offering excellent background light cancellation capabilities. The VCNL4030X01's built-in ambient light photodiode offers detection from 0.004 lx to 4.2 klx, allowing the device to operate in applications with dark or high transparency lens designs.

Other features include high accuracy of ± 10 %, fluorescent light flicker immunity, and excellent temperature compensation from -40 °C to +105 °C. The VCNL4030X01's proximity sensor uses intelligent cancellation to eliminate cross-talk, while a smart persistence scheme ensures fast response time and accuracy when an object is detected. The device's high sensitivity allows for high object detection distances up to 300mm. The emitter wavelength peaks at 940 nm and has no visible "red-tail."

It has a supply voltage range of 2.5 V to 3.6 V and I²C bus voltage range from 1.8 V to 5 V. Offered in a lead (Pb)-free 8-pin QFN package, the sensor is RoHS-compliant, halogen-free, and Vishay Green.

Samples and production quantities of the new VCNL4030X01 are available now, with lead times of eight to 12 weeks for large orders